Monday, March 15, 2010

This has to be one of my best trips to Sungei Buloh so far, with quite a number of new sightings!

On top of the list will be this Kalak Kambing (Finlaysonia obovata). I spotted this climber, while Peiting spotted the fruits! I had found at least 6 other Kalak Kambing in the reserve so far, but none had been fruiting or flowering. So finally, here's one with the fruits!

And the good luck did not just end there. I spotted this naturally occuring Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris)! It was a rather mature tree. I would say it's at least 10 metres tall, if not taller. And it's flowering and fruiting too! I certainly must come back again earlier to get some nice shots of the flowers, as they usually wither around 8 plus in the morning.

And even more surprising, I noticed a few shorter trees near the Berembang, and I realised that they were Gedabu (Sonneratia ovata) trees! Like it's relative the Berembang, this was also a rather rare mangrove plant in Singapore!

Yet another rare plant found in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was this Tumu Putih (Bruguiera sexangula), and it was flowering too!

I also found a small little propagule developing. Again, I certainly must revisit it again in a few weeks time to check if it has matured.

Another rare mangrove plant, the Barat-barat (Cassine viburnifolia) was flowering and fruiting too!

A number of other plants were also flowering, and while they may not be as rare as the previous ones, they were still rather pretty. The above is a Jeruju putih (Acanthus ilicifolius), which has lilac flowers.

Looking rather similar to the Jeruju putih is the Jeruju hitam (Acanthus ebracteatus). This plant has white flowers instead. They are often called Sea Holly due to their spiky leaves, which resembe those of the Christmas holly.

The Jeruju (Acanthus volubilis), on the other hand, does not have spikes, though the flowers are white in colour too. It is often seen in its climbing form, climbing up other mangrove plants.

The Ant House Plant (Dischidia major) was not flowering or fruiting, but it looked so nice under the sun, that I decided to take a photo of it anyway. This climber has pitcher-leaves inhabited by ants. In return for the shelter provided by the plant, the ants bring organic debris into their "house" to be used by the plant as nutrients.

Yet another rare plant we saw flowering was this Nyireh Batu (Xylocarpus moluccensis). Looking forward to see it fruiting soon.

We also saw a few Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) cocoons on the tree too!

We saw a Green Crested Lizard (Bronchocela cristatella) near the boardwalk! This was only the third time I saw this lizard at Sungei Buloh!

These looked like the droppings of a palm civet to me.

There were a pack of dogs in one of the ponds. Really hope the authorities can find ways to remove them soon. These dogs were certainly threatening the wildlife in the reserve.

Such as these Smooth Otters (Lutrogale perspicillata). We saw three of them today. In fact, I saw them yesterday while conducting a guided walk too. But I guess I'll never be tired of seeing these cute mammals!

I have also seen the dogs disturbing Malayan Water Monitors (Varanus salvator). These lizards are the biggest lizards you can find in Singapore.

We also saw a smaller relative of the monitor lizard, a male Common Flying Dragon (Draco sumatranus). This lizard can glide from tree to tree! It appeared be performing some courtship behaviour, extending its large yellow throat flap.

We saw lots of birds in the reserve, most of them are the migratory birds. There were a few resident birds too, such as the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) above.

We had a hard time taking photos of this Yellow-Barred Flutterer (Rhyothemis phyllis), a rather common dragonfly. It was flying around so quickly, and I had problem focusing my camera on it.

I found quite a number of Shield-backed Bugs (Calliphara nobilis, Scutelleridae). These bugs are sometimes called Jewel Bugs too, due to their bright and shiny colours. They belong to the Superfamily Pentatomoidea, which includes the stink bugs (Pentatomidae) and shield bugs (Acanthosomatidae).

The Cotton Stainer Bugs (Dysdercus decussatus) were another species we saw that gather in huge numbers. These bugs feed on the seeds of the Sea Hibiscus (Talipariti tiliaceum).

The were a few Batik Golden Web Spiders (Nephila antipodiana) among the trees. These spiders build one of the biggest and strongest spider webs.

We did not see the crocodile today, though I saw it last Monday. Didn't blog about it so thought I'll include the photos here as well.

Here's the Estuarine Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) that I saw last Monday.

We saw a Dog-faced Water Snake (Cerberus rhynchops) when we were sheltering from the rain in one of the shelters too.

And last Monday, we also saw a Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus).

In any case, I have been to Sungei Buloh so many times, and yet I was finding new stuff every now and then! That's something that really keep me visiting the reserve again and again!